The Letter
by bigdogneversleeps
Summary: AU World, where a letter hidden in a dusty box can change the lives of the many and the future of the shinobi world. Ino-centric
1. Finding Baby Pictures

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

…..

It was a boring day for little nine year old Ino Yamanaka. Sakura Haruno, her best friend, was off with her parents on a vacation to the northern coast of the Land of Fire, to a famous resort town. Her other friends weren't available either. Her older cousin, Ginjiro, didn't want to be bothered. He needed to study for the Academy. Ino didn't know why, it was really easy! Her father had already taught her a lot of what they had learned. The twin girls who lived on her street that she played with sometimes weren't home either. They were civilians, and had a different school schedule than future shinobi did. So she was alone.

She debated about hanging around her mother in the flower shop, but she decided to ignore that idea. She loved flowers, but she didn't like being around them 24/7. She had to help her mother put out stock the day before, as her father was still out on mission. That had been enough flowers for a few days for her.

She then thought about going to the Uchiha compound and trying to hang out with Sasuke. For the last month or so, she found herself thinking about the raven-haired boy more and more. Thoughts of him being handsome and cool. She wasn't really sure where those thoughts were coming from, but she liked them. It made her face heat up slightly thinking about it, and she always smiled slightly whenever she saw him now. She had wanted to be around him, but he wasn't being that forthcoming in letting her. He ignored her, but that just made her more interested in him. However, she decided against that too. It didn't really interest her at the moment.

Sighing to herself as she continually rejected ideas for things for her to do, she decided that it would be even more boring than hanging around in her room, staring at the ceiling, the things she had been doing as she had been thinking. _The ceiling…_

Ino's eyes went wide. The attic! Of course! She could go up there, and look at her baby pictures, or pictures of her parents when they were younger and even back in the academy. She could find some of mom's old clothes, and see if any were orange and purple. She liked both colors, even if orange was considered bright and obnoxious to some. It was weird, it contrasted with her love of stylish, cutting edge clothing. Maybe even find some of her family jutsu scrolls… She wanted to learn them, she thought she was ready, but her father wanted to make her wait to learn them. Sure of what she wanted to do, she got off the floor of her room and made headed into the attic.

When she got up there, she realized it was really dusty. She ignored it for the most part, and headed to the boxes where she knew her baby stuff was. That was her first order of business. Pulling the box from underneath a pile of her old clothes, she opened it and began to go through the photo album she had of her baby years. She was adorable, as usual, but she realized something. She saw there were no pictures of when she was just born, still in the hospital. Frowning at the thought, and knowing her mother loved to take pictures and to get pictures taken, Ino was sure that those photos existed. She began to dig through the two other albums in the box, but those pictures showed how she got progressively older, not when she was a baby. Annoyed by this development, she put back the albums and looked at the less touched back half of the attic, the part behind the staircase. It wasn't that it was full of things, but it was really dusty and stuff. Ino looked down at what she was wearing and shrugged. The shirt was okay, but it was an older one and orange, and she was just wearing some athletic shorts. A little dust never killed anybody, so she decided it was okay to get down and dirty to find her newborn pictures.

Forty minutes of labor later, she realized she was getting a lot dirty, and it was a lot more effort than she thought. She had to move things off of things to look at them, and then move everything back so she could move on to the next thing, so it was tedious work. She had just moved a box of old scrolls off of a bigger box, and was digging through it and it looked promising. It was filled with baby clothes, girl baby clothes, so it seemed it might be the box she was looking for. She had found her way to the bottom of it and grinned. There, at the bottom, was a red photo album book. She noticed a few papers were in the back of the book, but she was more focused on making sure this was the book she was looking for. She smiled when it was.

It was her, in a pink blanket, in her mother's arms. In her father's arms. In the Fourth Hokage's arms. Wait, what? She looked at the photo she had passed, and realized that it was in fact the Fourth Hokage, beaming proudly, holding her as a baby. Ino was surprised by this. Was her dad and him friends? Or her mom and him? She had no idea, it was just weird, seeing him hold her. As she began to look through the entirety of the album, she realized it wasn't the only instance of him being there. Repeatedly, in the background or in the forefront, the famed Hokage showed up in her baby pictures. Also in the background, besides her dad's buddies Chouza and Shikaku, was a very pregnant redhead, looking equal mixes of happy and angry. She wasn't sure what to think of that. She reached the end of the book, and saw the papers she had noted earlier. It was actually a letter, with a seal on it. What really caught her attention was that, in big letters on the front, were the words **FOR INO**. Surprised by that, she thought of the ways to safely open a seal. She first tried just removing it, but that gave her a nasty little shock. She then tried pumping small amounts of chakra into it, but that really didn't do anything. She wasn't sure what else to do until she remembered a seal her father opened once with his blood. Figuring that it was her best lead, she bit her thumb hard enough for her to bleed, the same thing her father had done, and put it on the seal.

To her surprise, it worked. The letter was now readable. Quickly she unfolded the paper to do so, and a picture fell out when she did. It fell to the floor, so she reached down and grabbed it. The picture confused her. It looked like a happy family picture, but it made no sense. It was her mother, on the hospital bed; herself, in the pink blanket looking at the camera; and the fourth Hokage, looking down on her and smiling warmly. Hoping the letter would explain, she began to read:

_Dear Ino,_

_If you are reading this, I have no doubt passed away before the age you could understand and this letter is being given to you to hear my perspective._

_I hope you do apologize that Nikko and Inoichi kept this from you, but do understand it was in your best interest. Nikko's and I mistake should not ruin your life._

_You have no doubt heard from your mother the account of that fateful night, but it is time for you to hear my side of the story. Your mother told you of the rough patch she and Inoichi were in at the time, and it was the same for me and Kushina. She had been having thoughts of leaving Konoha to find fellow members of the Uzumaki clan, which I could understand, but I wished for her to stay with me in Konoha. This argument caused a split between us, the same night as your mother's and Inoichi._

_It was mere fate we went to the same bar to drown our sorrows, and we would meet up to talk about how our spouses were being troublesome. We both knew they were in the right, but human nature has a tendency to make us stubborn. I began to feel comfort in your mother's presence, more comfort than I had been getting from Kushina in the few weeks before, which led me to a foolish action. I could blame the influence of my perverted sensei Jiraiya, but that would be unfair to him. It was my own actions, my own painful flaws that led me to kiss her. I had expected rejection, but was surprised to find her reciprocating. Our drunken states clouded our judgement, and led to actions that would create you. I was terrified about what I had done, due to the betrayals I had done to both my wife and Inoichi, and guilt ate at me until we confessed our sins. It was only because your father truly loved your mother, and Kushina loved me, that they accepted us back afterwards._

_I hope you can forgive us all, and feel no ill will to your half-brother, Naruto. He had no involvement in our sins, so do not blame him. But remember, he is family. Even though his last name is Uzumaki, and yours Yamanaka, the same blood runs through your veins._

_Know that, though I never got the chance to say it in life, that I do love you, my little Ino. You are my precious daughter and nothing would ever change that. May you live a great life and find someone you truly love, and never make the mistakes of your mother and father._

_ Signed,_

_ Your father _

_Minato Namikaze_

Ino was crying. Crying. Not because she hated her mother, or the man she called her father, or even her real father. She was crying because she would never get to meet her real father, a hero of the village, a legend, but still a man with his flaws. She also cried because she never knew that Naruto could have possibly been her brother. They were nothing alike, except maybe loud, but they were still brother and sister. And she had, for most of her life, ignored him and listened the bad rumors that circulated around him. But he was actually the son of the village hero, what would those rumor makers think now. She heard footsteps, and her mother's voice. Apparently she had heard the crying. Her mother bound up the stairs and immediately looked around to where her daughter was hurt, when she saw it and her face froze in fear. Ino wiped away her tears.

"I know, mom. I know."

…..

The first chapter of another idea that I loved and wanted to reveal to the world.


	2. Mother's Confession

The first chapter of another idea that I loved and wanted to reveal to the world.

I hope you liked this chapter and this Ino-centric story, and you hope you all like this as well. Remember to review to tell me your thoughts. And thanks for the lack of hate messages

…..

Nikko Touzu Yamanaka was a woman with few regrets. However, those regrets were major and consumed her. One of those regrets; one that she had been trying to bury within herself for over ten years had just reared its ugly head again.

It was a bit early for whiskey, her drink of choice, but she needed it to calm her nerves. She had sent her daughter off to take a shower, she had been dirty from her excavation in the attic, and told her they would talk after words. The water had stopped running, so she knew it was about time to explain. She had kept herself busy by reading and rereading the letter Minato left. She had always been curious about what it said, and now she knew. None of it surprised her, as she had known all of the information before hand. Even her daughter's kinship with the village pariah. Which was why she had never treated him poorly, and made positive comments to those who gossiped negative things about him. Taking a sip from her whiskey, she heard the footsteps on the stairs. Steeling her nerves, she watched her daughter creep into view, taking a seat across from her mother.

Ino looked at the bottle on the table, and knew it was a bottle of whiskey. She had seen her parents throw a few get-together's with friends, and knew that was the drink her mother liked. She liked to say it calmed and made things less stressful. She ignored the bottle, and looked up at her mother. She looked almost exactly like her, except for the eyes. Her mother had greenish-grey eyes, and she had assumed that she had gotten her blue eyes from her father. She guessed that was still correct. She looked tense, but Ino didn't say anything. She had decided, in the shower, to let her mother explain everything and let her make sense of this… revelation.

"Ino-chan, I know- I know that you are very confused. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you had to find out this way about this." Her mother told her. Ino just sat there and listened.

Her mother continued. "You are probably wondering, what made me do what I did. I wish that I could say it was for a good reason. That my actions were just. But that is a lie. My reasons were petty. So petty…" She drifted off, thinking to herself obviously. Ino didn't let it show, but she was really curious.

Nikko turned back to her daughter, and gave her a smile. "You know that I went to the Academy when I was young. My parents were so proud, that there daughter would be a ninja. The first ninja in the history of the Touzu family. But things didn't work out so well. I failed the Genin Exam twice, unable to perform the jutsu's well enough to pass. I quit, ashamed of my failure. But there was one good thing that came from the academy. I met your father, and his two close friend Shikaku Nara and Chouza Akimichi. Eventually, we fell in love but there was a problem. Something I didn't tell your father. About how I felt so… inferior to him. That I was a failure in my life. That I had to work as a gardener, a common civilian job, when he was this great ninja that was respected by everyone. I always feared the day he would realize he could do better and leave me. And when he begun to stay out more with Shikaku and Chouza after the war ended, I didn't believe it. I thought he was… seeing someone else. I didn't understand why they hung out together and drink so much, to bury the memories of war. So I thought it was something else."

Her mother sighed, and guiltily looked at her daughter. "Eventually, I confronted him on the issue. He told me nothing was further from the truth, but I didn't believe him. I was so mad when he told me that, because I was so sure, so sure that he was cheating. So, it came to me. That horrible, anger induced idea of revenge I got. If he could have an affair, why couldn't I? So I went to a bar, fully expecting to pick up a stranger. But everyone knew who I was, Inoichi's wife, and completely off-limits. No one tried anything. I was mad, and decided to grab the attention of someone in a booth. I really wasn't expecting to see it was Minato, the Hokage."

"We ended up talking for hours, complaining to one another about our problems and fears. Eventually, the bar closed and the bartender made us leave. Thank god he didn't realize who it was, the hood he wore hid his face. We ended up stumbling to his home, Kushina was out for the day on a mission. I expected to have to stumble my way home, but when I went to say good night to him, I was greeted with a kiss. It was what I wanted, so I went with it. And my goal of the night was completed. The next morning, I immediately regretted everything, we both did. A few days later, I confessed to Inoichi what I did, about how I got even with him. He explained that he would forgive me, but I was wrong. He would never cheat on me, and in fact he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Even after what I did, he proposed to me. That was when I knew your father loved me completely, and that I would love him completely too, since he could accept. We ended up having a short engagement, we were married a week later." Her mother let out a sigh, one that said how she was relieved to tell her daughter everything.

"Then I found out I was pregnant, and I was so happy. Then I remembered Minato and what we had done and I was so scared. By this time, everyone knew his wife was pregnant, she had been since before the night, so I knew that it would ruin everything for him if people found out. So I got a test done, under the guise of checking for any birth defects but to actually privately check paternity. I got the records of both Minato and Inoichi, with Minato's permission, and checked. Their DNA was quite different, so it was quickly obvious that you were Minato's child. But it didn't matter to Inoichi, since he immediately agreed to act as your father. He knew he could ruin the Hokage, the man who slept with his at the time girlfriend and now wife, but he never thought of it for a moment. So, after agreeing that we would reveal the truth of your parentage at a later date, Inoichi became your father by all legal records." Her mother finished her story, taking another sip from her cup of whiskey.

Ino didn't say anything immediately after her mother finished. The nine year old had to process everything. She wished she could say she was shocked about what her mother did, but after hearing from a Hokage he could do the same thing she was jaded of that sense. She guessed it could make sense, but she didn't really want to think about it. Really, Ino just wanted to ignore that her mother had cheated on her dad. Ino rationalized it as best as she could, but she really didn't care about that at the moment. Another, much more important thing, was on her mind.

"How come, how come you didn't adopt Naruto?" Ino asked her mother.

Her mother looked at her, and looked away. "I couldn't do that to Inoichi."

Ino was confused. "What do you mean?"

She looked down at the table, then up to Ino. "I don't think you understand how hard it was for him. He loves you like you were his real daughter, and considers you his real daughter, but knows he is not your real father. He accepted me, after what I did to him. I wasn't going to hurt him again. Imagine, not only having to raise a daughter that you have to pretend is yours, but a son from the same man who is your daughter's real father. Well, you can't imagine it yet, but what I mean is that it would hurt him and not be right to him."

Ino listened to what her mother said. "But, but he's my brother! Shouldn't I have my brother in my life?" Her mother stayed silent. "When were you going to tell me? When were you two going to tell me about my real father, about Naruto?"

Ino waited impatiently, and heard a murmur from her mother, something she did not understand.

"Mom, what did you say?" Ino asked.

"Never." Ino gaped at the confession.

"You, you weren't going to tell me? About my real father? About me having a brother?" Ino said accusingly.

Her mother couldn't look her in the eyes. "We thought it would be better that way."

"Better! How could lying to me be better!" Ino was mad at this point. Offended that her mother and dad wouldn't tell her about her father and brother.

"It just, we just thought it was better if you didn't know! That you wouldn't hate us from keeping it from you. That you would be happier this way."

"With a lie?"

Her mother didn't look at her at this point. She had shamed her into her silence. Angry at her mother, she grabbed the letter and stormed out of the kitchen. Taking a moment to put on her sandals, and pocketing the letter, Ino marched out of her house, slamming the door as she left. She began to march into no particular direction, when she heard her mother try to follow her, yelling at her to comeback. She then began to run, turning as many corners as she could to try and make sure she lost her mother. Eventually, she made her way to the forest, and ran her way into them. She slowed down and began to simply walked around the forests, her hand on the letter in her shorts pocket.

Eventually, she heard some boys running, coming towards her. She made her way to the side of the path as they ran by. She listened to them laugh about how they beat up the "loser brat." Instinctively, she knew they were talking about Naruto. Going in the same direction as they had been coming from, she eventually came to a small clearing. In the distance there was a girl being pulled away by an older man, the girl obviously wanting to go back. However, Ino wasn't really focused on them. She was already over a beaten and unconscious Naruto. She had remembered a few of the procedures from class about making sure people are alive, she checked his pulse and felt a pulse. She then watched his chest, and saw that it was rising and falling, cueing her that he was still breathing. Gathering her considerable strength for a nine year old kunoichi-in-training, she began to carry Naruto fireman style out of the woods and to some place of medical treatment. She was going to make sure her otouto was alright.

…..

First of all, there is Japanese whiskey. I didn't just want to sake.

Secondly, Ino's mother is intelligent. She could figure out how to DNA profile with some basic reading and the use of transparencies.


	3. Hospital

Ino was disturbed by the looks she got as she carried her brother to the hospital. She never knew the someone could look so angry at a child. They seemed to say, 'Why would you help that?' which truly confused her. Everyone knew there was something off about Naruto, or that was what they had heard, but for that to make him being hated. Ino was really interested on what it could be, on what people think her brother did. He was a prankster, for sure, but still.

She focused on ignoring the glares as she marched to the hospital. She was given a wide lane to move, but she had a feeling it wasn't for compassionate reasons. However, she would take it, and she made it to the hospital and walked in, Naruto on her shoulders. It caused a commotion with the nurses, who were the utmost professionals, even to Naruto, and quickly got a gurney for Naruto. Ino followed them as they took him to a room, when one of the nurses pushing asked her. "So, what happened this time?"

Ino pulled her attention from him and looked at the nurse. "I was in the forest when I saw a few boys running out who were talking about how they beat up somebody. I went to look for who it was, and I found Naruto. He was like this, but I checked to see if he was breathing and stuff, and he was, but I thought I still needed to take him here." The nurse nodded to her story, and looked at one of the nurses treating Naruto. "I'm going to go and inform the Hokage of this." She turned and left, leaving a confused Ino.

"What does she mean? Why does she have to get the Hokage?" She asked, genuinely worried.

The nurse paused for a second, and looked at Ino. "It is the Hokage's orders that any time he is brought in, we contact him. Also, you have to stay here until then. He will no doubt want to talk with you, you did bring him in."

Ino nodded, accepting what the nurse said. "Is Naruto going to be alright?"

The nurse nodded as she worked. "Nothing appears wrong, they just beat him pretty good. Knowing him, he probably didn't even need to come."

"B-but he was unconscious! He had a bunch of cuts and bruises!" Ino protested, but the nurse didn't say anything, but rather continued to treat him.

Ino watched on as they took him to an room, which she followed him into. They eventually cleaned all the cuts and did their tests. They finally turned to Ino. "He should be just fine. He should be waking up soon, and he will be alright."

Ino let off a small smile. "Thank you." She told the nurse. The nurse looked over Ino at the door. "And I believe someone is here to speak with you." She motioned to the door behind her.

Ino turned around, and saw the Hokage. She gave him a fake smile and a small bow. "Hello, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage, who saw the fakeness of her actions, simply gave her a smile. "Hello, Ino-san." He looked up to the nurse. "If you could please give us a moment…" The nurse nodded.

"Of course, Hokage-sama." She left the room, closing the door behind her. Ino's smile was dropped, and she coldly turned from the Hokage. She walked up to the side of Naruto's bed, watching over him.

"What do you want?" Her cold tone surprised the Hokage.

"I came here to check on Naruto. Could you tell me what exactly happened?" The Hokage asked, walking up to the opposite side of the bed as Ino.

"I was in the forest, when a few boys talked about beating up a "loser brat" and I knew they were talking about Naruto. I then followed the way they ran from and found him on the floor unconscious. I saw a man pulling a girl away, who looked like she wanted to help. I made sure he was okay enough to move, then I carried him to the hospital." Her story was concise and bitter. The Hokage was confused by this attitude, and decided to discover the reason for it.

"You sound like you aren't saying something, Ino-san." He left it open for her to tell him.

She didn't say anything for a moment, not even looking at him or at Naruto. Her face was hidden, but when she lifted it, the Hokage was surprised to take a step back. On her face was unadulterated loathing, directed solely towards him. The surprise of seeing such a look from such a little girl made the Hokage move in a way he hadn't in decades. "You knew."

The Hokage recovered himself and raised an eyebrow. "Knew what?"

Ino began to mad at this, and began to yell. "You know exactly what! You were gonna hide it from me, just like my mother and so called father!" She began to march around the bed, stomping at every step. The Hokage didn't fear for his life, but had she been a little bit older he may have.

"What, do tell, was I going to keep from you?" The Hokage asked, looking for answers.

"I don't know, about my father really being the Fourth Hokage and Naruto is actually my half-brother!"

The Hokage froze. Of all the things he expected her to say, that was never even on the list. Somehow, she knew of Naruto's parentage, and was claiming to be in actuality the daughter of the Konoha's hero. The simple fact that she knew Naruto's heritage was enough for the Sandaime to began to weave the signals of a high-level privacy jutsu.

Ino looked on in sudden fear as the Hokage began to weave through hand signs. She was legitimately scared for her life, fearing the Hokage was about to strike her dead for finding out. Then she heard him call out the name of the jutsu. "Hidden Bubble Jutsu!" A sudden sheen surrounded the three of them, a chakra made bubble meant to stop sight, sound, and smell from entering the bubble.

"What did you just do?" Ino asked in a trembling manner.

The Hokage looked down at Ino. "I cast a jutsu so we may speak in private. Firstly, how did you discover about Naruto's lineage and secondly, what do you mean your father is the Fourth Hokage?"

Ino was taken aback. Did he not know? Wasn't the Hokage supposed to know everything? Remembering the letter she had grabbed, she pulled it from her pocket and held it in your hand. "They…didn't tell you?"

"Ino-san, what are you talking about?" The Hokage did not appreciate being out of the loop on such a matter.

Ino gulped. "My mother… cheated on my father because she thought he was cheating. And my real father, the fourth Hokage, cheated cause he thought his wife was going to leave him to find the rest of her clan." She handed him the letter. "I heard the part about my mother…from her."

The Hokage grabbed the letter, checking the seal to see if it was Minato's style (it was) and reading the content. It frankly shocked him to his core. There was a seat within the protection of the bubble, so he soon filled it. "Minato…why did you never tell me?'

Ino didn't know what to say, so she explained what happened. "I was in my attic, looking for baby pictures of me in the hospital when I found it. I…talked with my mother, and she told me it was true. Then, then she told me that they weren't ever going to tell me the truth! That they were going to lie to me, and not tell me who my real father is, or that Naruto is my brother!"

"Say what?" Both turned their head to see a now wide awake Naruto. "What do you mean, "Naruto is my brother?" He had woken up to the last sentence, so he had no idea of the rest of the story.

The Hokage looked to Ino, and back to Naruto and sighed. He really didn't want to tell Naruto about his heritage until he was special jounin or jounin rank, strong enough to defend himself, but with a sister who could only be explained if he knew… and the failures he had in giving Naruto a healthy, loving childhood… he couldn't keep this from him.

"I am as shocked as you are, Naruto-kun, but evidence shows that she is in fact, your half-sister."

Naruto's jaw had dropped. "B-b-but I'm an orphan! And Ino had both her parents! How would that work?"

The Hokage got up from his seat and made his way to the bed side of Naruto, fully sitting up. "We will need someone else here before all is explained. I need to her from your mother, Ino-san, to have all of this sorted out."

Ino grumbled, but nodded. The Hokage then left the bubble, but it still stayed intact, and was off to send one of his ANBU to retrieve Ino's mother. Inside the bubble, Naruto was staring at Ino. Ino realized it and looked around. "Why are you staring?" She asked, honestly confused.

Naruto gave a wide eyed look. "You're my sister?"

Ino nodded. "Tough to believe, right? But nope, I'm your big sister."

Naruto tried to close his eyes, but they were getting glassy. "You're my sister." He repeated, trying to beat it into his own head, forcing himself to accept the insane concept that he was not alone.

Ino could only nod. "Yeah, I am."

All of a sudden, Naruto grabbed her around the waist and Ino felt the wetness through her shirt. In a muffled voice, she heard him say aloud. "I have a sister!" Even though it was muffled, she could tell it was a cheer.

Ino's eyes began to get glassy too, the concept of a sibling really hitting her at that moment. "I have a brother." She said, barely louder in a whisper as the realization was fully hitting her.

He removed himself from her shirt, and gave her a proper hug. "Neechan."

Hearing those words made Ino break into tears, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a giant hug. "Naruto."

Looking on, the Hokage was touched. By no means expected, Naruto finally had something he had been forced to live without. Family.

...

Here is chapter three, I hope you all enjoy


	4. Inoichi Yamanaka

On the concept of Kushina forgiving Minato, I would agree that is a tough sell, but I think of it as something like Bill and Hillary Clinton, except kept in private. I have no good way to flashback to it, but let me just say there was a flare of demonic chakra felt throughout Konoha the day he confessed his sins.

Sorry about the month plus delay, but I was updating the rest of my stories. This was not forgotten! I also had to sort out ideas, as new story concepts love to pop into my head. Like this new challenge I have (details in my author profile.)

Enjoy the latest chapter of my story, The Letter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

…

Inoichi smiled as he entered the Hokage's office with his chunin teammate for the B-Rank mission they had just completed. Normally, they would just send a sole jonin for such a mission, but the Hokage had wanted the chunin to get the experience on infiltration. The mission had gone off with a hitch, the funds having been stolen from a major trading partner of Konoha's, and the thieves had no doubt received a nasty surprise with the decoy scroll. The Hokage let him in with a simple knock, his chunin companion head was up, proud of his success. They handed over the scroll with the funds, totaling over eight million ryo (roughly a million American dollars), and gave their comments on the mission. The Hokage was pleasantly satisfied with the results, and sent the chunin off.

"Are you sending me on another mission already, Hokage-sama? I haven't even seen Nikko-chan and Ino-chan yet."

The Hokage let out a sigh, and put his hand on the side of his desk, pumping a bit of chakra into a seal to activate all the privacy seals he needed for high-security situations. Inoichi saw the faint brightening of the seals, and tensed. Whatever it was, this was not good.

"I'm quite disappointed in you, Inoichi."

"What are you talking about, Hokage-sama? I thought this mission went to your satisfaction." He politely replied, making sure he said nothing incriminating in case he was being charged with some crime.

The Hokage nodded slowly. "It was, but I was speaking about the fact you have been keeping secrets."

Inoichi rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" He couldn't think of anything information he had withheld from the Hokage.

"Well, the fact that you hid your daughter's true parentage from me is quite concerning. Especially when this involves something as sensitive as the Yondaime."

Inoichi froze. In all honesty, he had forgotten about it. Spending over nine years telling everyone you know a lie tends to make one believe in it themselves. He swallowed as those repressed facts came to light. "How did you come to know this, Hokage-sama?" It was useless to deny, the Hokage would never make such an accusation without definitive proof.

"You should know of all people to dispose all evidence in order to keep a secret. Four days ago, Ino discovered the letter Minato wrote to her in case he was not alive when the truth was revealed to her. It also disclosed the fact she was the half-sister of Naruto, another fact I did not know you had knowledge of."

Inoichi looked down in shame. He was in deep shit, that was a fact. "I apologize, just… during the pregnancy Minato kept in touch and told us many things, including about Kushina-san's status as jinchuriki and how an Uzumaki were ideal to hold the tailed beasts. Despite your announcement that the child had died because of the Kyuubi, it was obvious to both of us the truth."

The Hokage let out a sigh. "I am quite mad at you for keeping such facts at you. If I were another man, I would bring up charges of treason and have you executed. However, losing a shinobi such as yourself with do only harm to Konoha overall, and hurt your family. Instead, you will be docked thirty percent of your pay for three years, and will be forced to resign from your seat on the Jonin council. The reason you give can be your own."

If it had been any less tense, Inoichi would have let out a sigh of relief. Instead, he only gave a sharp nod. "I understand, Hokage-sama."

"I will also warn you, " the Hokage added, "that Naruto has moved into your house with you. It was actually on Ino's demand, she said she would live with her brother."

Inoichi gulped. "Hokage-sama, how I will explain this? Our family randomly adopting him will bring up many questions, questions I do not know how to answer."

The Hokage internally debated if he should give him advice, but quickly realized how right Inoichi was. What was a good reason for him to have adopt Naruto. No one had commented on it yet, but it would no doubt get out and cause issues. Remembering the events of the past few days, a good excuse came to mind.

"It was seen by many that Ino carried Naruto into the hospital after he was beaten up by a few unknown bullies. We can say that Naruto was in fact defending Ino. From there, we will say Ino got to know Naruto better because of it and came to think of him as a brother in that short time, with Naruto feeling that Ino was like a sister. Deciding her new self-proclaimed brother should have a family, they convinced you and Nikko-san to adopt Naruto. Do you agree with this arrangement?"

Inoichi nodded, realizing it was better than anything he could think up. He could always have let Shikaku think of something, but that would involved revealing the truth to him, if he didn't already know. It was distinctly possible Shikaku had managed to figure out the truth, with that brain of his, but said nothing. Troublesome Nara…

The Hokage relaxed. "Inoichi, while I am mad, I am not without compassion. You are no doubt a better man than I, accepting Nikko-san back afterwards. I must admit I don't think I would have had the courage to do so if Biwako-chan had done the same."

"I would always accept her back." Inoichi said without hesitation. "I love Nikko-chan, and want to spend the rest of my life with her, mistakes and all."

The Hokage smiled for a moment, before his face settled. "I trust you to protect Naruto as if he was your own son."

Inoichi calmly replied. "You needn't worry about that, Hokage-sama. I can do that."

The Hokage proceeded to release the seals. "I'm glad to hear that Inoichi. You are dismissed."

Inoichi bowed very low. "Good day, Hokage-sama." He swiftly left the office, and made the nerve-wracking trip homeward. It wasn't that he was scared about Naruto or Nikko or anything, it was that he was terrified at the thought of his precious Ino's reaction to him. Being raised to believe that he was her biological father, he was afraid she would rebuke him, maybe even hate him. But what scared him worse was if she simply called him Inoichi. That was the thought that fueled his daymares. He landed from his rooftop jump to his doorway, and took a gulp in fear. Then, with only a moment's hesitation, he entered into his home.

As he walked into the living room, he was greeted to a kiss. Letting himself revel into this momentary joy, he smiled and kissed back the woman he loved.

"Nikko-chan." He mumbled against her lips. She gave him another peck before she separated from him.

"I'm glad your home, Inoichi-kun." He saw that, behind her smile, was a ball of stress that he knew the cause of.

"Hokage-sama told me everything. Where are they now?" Inoichi asked.

Nikko let out a sigh. "In his room, the former guest room. She is helping him settle in. It looks like Shikaku and Shikamaru will have to find a different place to hide and sleep when they come over, huh?" Her attempts to lighten the situation were not particularly effective, but Inoichi nodded.

"How are they taking the news?"

Nikko gave a small smile as she looked upstairs, to the room they were in. "Better than expected. Ino is mad at us, for planning on leaving her in the dark, but she has been lessening her glares at me. Naruto, I was surprised that he forgave me so quick. He is more happy that he has a sister than mad that we weren't planning on telling him… When he found out about his heritage, though, he nearly had a heart attack. I can't blame the boy, finding out that he's your father." She emphasized the 'he', alluding to Minato. "The boy is so happy right now… I'm a little worried about how he'll take the news about it though." Inoichi nodded, knowing what she meant. He had always been a little wary of the psychological effect it might have on the boy, and compounding it with this knowledge would only make it worse.

"So, are they acting like brother and sister already?" His gentle probing of the situation continued.

Nikko managed to chuckle. "Quite. It's a little funny, seeing them go from clingy to arguing and back to clingy. We went shopping the other day, and Ino tried to find other colors for him besides orange, but it was a challenge between the two. She had him in a headlock and dragged him into the changing room at one point! I could hardly stop my laughing."

"What did other people think?" Inoichi was worried about how the news was going to spread.

"We went to the small store your cousin runs, Miko's. There weren't really many customers, and nobody said anything anyway."

Inoichi nodded, and promptly filled her in on the excuse they were going to use for the impromptu adoption. Nikko nodded in agreement to it.

"That sounds like a good excuse." She looked back at where the kids would be on the second floor, and then back to Inoichi. "Are you going to talk to them now, or later."

"I think it would be best to talk to them now. I just hope Ino-chan…" He didn't finish the statement, as his wife put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. Even though you aren't her father, " Nikko winced as she brought up her sin, "she will always be Daddy's little girl."

Inoichi just gave her a nod. "I hope so." Giving Nikko a kiss on the cheek, he walked up the stairs and to the doorway of Naruto's room. He wasn't noticed as the duo were currently arguing.

"But I don't like to read!" Naruto argued. Inoichi almost didn't recognize the boy, with his new outfit. Black cargo pants, and a green jacket that was the same color as a chunin vest, with the Uzumaki swirl on the back of it. He could tell, however, it was not without his beloved color, as it appeared he was wearing an orange shirt underneath his jacket.

Ino stood, hands on her hips, wearing a purple shirt with a white collar and a black skirt that came down to just above her knee. "I don't care, you aren't filling the bookcase with cup ramen!"

"B-b-but your mom won't make ramen that often, so I need to have some onhand!" Naruto argued, hugging a few cups to his chest.

Inoichi could tell Ino rolled her eyes at this. "But in your room?"

"So you won't eat any!" Naruto accused her.

"Why would I eat some of your ramen?" Ino questioned her little brother.

Naruto put on a thinking face as he thought about it, but after staying like that for a few moments, he shrugged. "I dunno, but you would!" He pointed an accusing finger at her.

Ino just shook her head. "Baka brother."

Naruto just pouted. "Evil sister." There was a mutual silence, which continued when they simultaneously looked at one another and huffed again, turning away from each other. It was then Ino finally noticed her father, causing her to 'eep!' Naruto turned around to see what had happened, and saw the man standing there. It was obvious to Inoichi how uncomfortable Naruto was at the moment, so he decided to speak to him first.

"How are you liking our room, Naruto?"

Naruto's eyes went wide in surprise of the question, but he relaxed himself. "Umm, really good Yamanaka-san. Except that Ino-nee thinks I shouldn't have my cup ramen in my room."

Inoichi let himself give an understanding smirk. "You don't have to call me that. Call me…" Inoichi thought of what term would be appropriate. Eventually the right one settled into his mind, "call me Ojisan, alright?"

Naruto nervously nodded and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess." It was obvious he had no clue what to say.

"Say, Naruto, could you go ask Nikko-chan what she is making for dinner tonight?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow to the question, before turning to Ino. Ino gave him a nod, so he nodded back to Inoichi. "Umm, sure thing. Be right back." He then left the room, and it was now just them two.

Inoichi immediately began to speak. "Your mother told me how mad you are at us…I can't blame you. We shouldn't have planned to keep it a secret from you forever, even though we told your father we would tell you at twelve. It was selfish of us, to try and cover up the past, since it only hurt everyone. I just hope…you forgive us soon, Ino-chan." He looked at his daughter, who was keeping her head down, but he saw the few tears begin to fall. He grabbed her by the shoulder in a comforting action "I hope you forgive me, too. I know that, I'm not your real father, but it doesn't matter to me. You will always be my little girl, blood or not. I just hope you can forgive me for lying to you about that."

WHUMPH!

Inoichi bent over, not expecting the punch to the stomach he had received. He had to catch his breath, and he looked up at his daughter, now looking at him, tears in her eyes, somewhat snifling. She then flung herself at him, doing her best to wrap in a hug.

"I still love you, daddy." She spoke into his chest.

Through tears and a smile, he replied. "I love you too."


End file.
